Enjoy Life Foods: Plentils

August 7, 2012 By 5 Comments

Enjoy Life Foods has a new product… Plentils!! What is a Plentil? It’s almost like a potato chip only it’s made from healthy, high protein lentils.

Plentils

These crunchy lentil chips, like all of Enjoy Life Foods snacks, are still allergy-safe and free from the eight most common food allergens. They come in four delicious flavors that are sure to satisfy.

Enjoy Life Foods sent me a bag of each of the yummy flavors to try and I enjoyed them all. My only disappointment was the saltiness of the sea salt flavor. I expected more salt taste since that was only flavor so they may have been a little more plain than I would have liked, but each of the other flavors had plenty of seasonings. They are the perfect late-night television watching snack or great to take along to the beach when others have their own non-allergy-friendly chips to munch on.

I was slightly concerned about the presence of corn after reading the ingredients label on some of the flavors since I am corn-allergic. I checked with Enjoy Life Foods and they assured me that although there are ingredients that are derived from corn, all of the corn protein had been removed from the end product. Sure enough, I was able to enjoy this Enjoy Life Foods snack with no allergy problems… as usual.

And just yesterday I was shopping at my local Nutrition S’mart and noticed Plentils on the shelf for the first time! Now I can pick up a bag and enjoy them again anytime. Why not give them a try and let me know what you think?!

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Namaste Foods: Say Cheez Pasta Meal

March 12, 2012 By 7 Comments

Macaroni and cheese is a no-brainer comfort food. It’s a quick, last minute meal that you never really get tired of having. As a kid the box macaroni and cheese was a meal we made ourselves for lunch at least once a week during summers. Homemade, “real” macaroni and cheese is a recipe that has always been one of my favorites.

I was pretty excited to find Namaste Foods’ allergy-friendly version of a boxed macaroni and cheese mixture. It’s nice to keep something like that in the pantry for nights when I’m too tired to make a whole dinner. I was pleased with the price of this meal, sometimes the gluten-free meals are pretty expensive. It was super easy to make. Just boil noodles and add sauce packet to heating oil and water… mix together.

Namaste pasta package

I was very impressed with the taste and texture of the rice pasta in the Say Cheez Meal. We both thought it was better than any other gluten-free pasta we have tried. The taste of the sauce was good, but really didn’t taste much like macaroni and cheese. I can’t really blame them for trying to make a cheese sauce without the use of any dairy ingredients. We both agreed that we’d like it better if we thought of it as a pasta dish rather than macaroni and cheese.

Namaste finished pasta

I’d definitely buy it again to keep for an easy meal… I just wont make it when I’m craving macaroni and cheese. Have you tried this pasta? What did you think about it?

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Allergy Free Holiday Recipes: Perfect Pumpkin Pie

November 14, 2011 By 6 Comments

Nothing says holiday quite like homemade pumpkin pie. I decided that I really needed to learn to make pumpkin pie the way my Mom makes it. She mostly follows the recipe on the pumpkin can… with a small, but very important exception. The result is THE best pie!

Pie ingredients

Start by making your pie crust. We used a Namaste mix and recipe so that it would be allergy-safe for me. I was pleased with the result for the most part. I liked the taste and texture, but it was a lot of work to make because it was difficult to form into the pie plate.

Making pie crustPouring crustForming crustFinished crust

Once the crust is ready, you’re ready to start on the filling. Here’s where the big secret to the perfect pie comes in. When you get to the eggs, we only added the yokes for now, and set the whites aside to add later.

Separating eggsEgg yokesAdding milk

Once you’ve finished following the rest of the recipe, it’s time to deal with the egg whites. We chilled a bowl for a minute or so in the freezer. Mom says it helps the whites to whip up better.

Chill bowl

Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer until they stiffen a little. Don’t over do it… you don’t want them to be hard to work with. You still want them to be light and fluffy, but stiff enough to hold their shape a little.

Whip egg whites

Then add the egg whites to the rest of the filling mixture. Slowly and carefully fold in the whites. The object is to keep all of the tiny air bubbles you mixed into the whites. If you stir too quickly you will undo the extra work you did. The result should be a pie that is extra light and fluffy.

Carefully fold egg whitesReady to bake

Bake the pie according to directions and allow to cool completely before serving.

Finished pie

We served ours with homemade cinnamon whipped cream and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Dessert

Delicious! Give this method a try… I know you’ll love it. Enjoy!

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